Rear View Mirror 04/2/12

Rear View Mirror covers what you may have missed in last
week’s racing both in the real world and in the world of Forza. This week we
are expanding coverage to IndyCar, the upcoming DTM Series, and the ongoing Aussie
V8 Supercars series. Also, look for our new yet to be named Thursday column,
written by Yours Truly, to begin next week. We will be featuring reader’s
rides, projects you or your friends may be working on, and other cool automotive
projects we come across. Also, I will occasionally tell a story about one of my
cars. Got a suggestion for the name of this new column? Let us know in the RVM thread. I’ll award a unicorn of choice to my top three favorite
suggestions, whether I use them or not.

The World of Racing

IndyCar

Aussie Will Power (what a great name for a racer), took his
16th career victory and second consecutive win in Alabama, by
pushing his Chevy-powered #12 Verizon IndyCar to the lead from an initial ninth
place. Scott Dixon held the lead for the majority of the race but lost a few crucial
seconds under yellow flag conditions and settled for second place in the Team
Target #9 Honda. IZOD IndyCar Series points leader Helio Castroneves managed a
hard-fought third. Castroneves is “thinking one race at a time” and looking
forward to next week’s race in Long Beach. The race had nine lead changes and
many passes during the 90 laps on the challenging, 2.38 mile, 17 turn, track in
the heart of Dixie.

The “Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft,” or German Touring
Car Championship, begins April 29th at the Hockenheim ring in
Germany. It’s a ten-race series pitting Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz touring
cars against one another. The series includes a show in Munich on July 14 and
15. I’m looking forward to covering this series since several DTM cars are
featured in Forza 4. Let the German- manufacturer rivalries begin! Any
favorites or thoughts on who will dominate? Comment in the RVM thread.

For those of you new to Aussie racing (like me), there are
two races for each event, one Saturday and one Sunday. With two race weekends already
past, Jamie Whincup has taken first in three of the four races with Wil Davison
and Ford Performance Racing taking a win in Sunday’s opening weekend Clipsal
500 in Adelaide. Combined with his second place on Saturday, Davison won the Adelaide
Clipsal 500. Whincup and his Vodafone Holden took first in both races at the following
week’s Tasmania Challenge, giving him the weekend win despite an early race
spin on Sunday. Davison currently leads
the championship overall by 18 points.

This Thursday, Nissan will be unveiling their Altima-based
V8 Supercar competitor for the 2013 season at the New York Auto Show. Check it out if you get a chance.

A crash on lap 498 at the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 in
Martinsville took out race leaders Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson. Ryan Newman, driving
the #39 Outback Steakhouse Chevrolet, saw his chance to take the lead and he
ran with it. He battled clean, final laps with A.J. Allmendinger in the #22
Dodge, who was happy to score a second place standing--his best so far--as a
NASCAR driver. Newman was blamed by some to have caused the wrecks that took
out the leaders, but several replays of the event show he was not. Clint
Bowyer’s #15 Toyota clearly caused the wreck by going wide into the tight
corner and bumping Jeff Gordon’s #24, who then slid into Jimmie Johnson’s #48.
After the race, according to Newman, Gordon came up to Newman and hit him.
Newman kept his cool and felt no reason to apologize for the incident. Third
went to Dale Earnhardt Jr., who holds second place in the point standings
behind Greg Biffle. Do you agree that Newman won cleanly? Comment here.

Community photo contest favorite from Darkticmotion

Community Racing

Community Bounty, “Panda’s Slide Castle”

Last week’s Community Bounty was greenPandaMeow. He is a talented painter, who recently won our
race-replica paint contest. His event is, the Sachs Kurve Drift Rivals. Known
more for his painting than his drifting, Panda concedes that many will beat his
score, a fair 22,522, as of writing this. He also brought several side
challenges to the table. Side challenge winners will receive cool custom
liveried rides from Panda. His first side challenge, “Name the Event,” was won
by TheBR0WNbandit for his submission,
“Pandas Bearly Drift.” Other challenges offered were: Match Panda’s Score
challenge, Best E28 drift score, and Panda’s Big Throwdown, a chance to boast
about how badly you would beat Panda’s score. Thanks to Panda for all the fun
extras, cool prizes, and a strong effort on his part. Look for the next Rivals
Community Bounty victim tomorrow.

Race with Dev Recap

We held our first Game with Devs event in several months
last Thursday and it was my first one ever. A good time was had by all and we
gave out almost 400 unicorns, the most ever in Game with Dev history. Each of
us had their own approach to the event, Mechberg
T10 did circuit racing in a variety of classes, phREDESIGN had soccer going, and Ayo Jube had some crazy events that were all his own. For my part,
I offered A-class circuit racing against my tricked and tuned VW R32. While I
didn’t win any races, several people did comment on how fast my ride was. Sadly,
my driving just wasn’t up to par. In circuit racing, we tried to race clean and
in soccer Fred learned that simulation damage doesn’t go too far with
front-engine cars. Brian, found out more than he needed to know about why
anyone would use the Gamertag DiarheaRobusto
(you’ll have to ask him, I just can’t go there). Bacon was also a popular
topic of discussion. Mmmmmm! Bacon!

How often would you folks like to see these events? Even
though we would love to, every day is probably not going to happen. Post your
thoughts in the RVM thread.

Community photo contest favorite from BAM NITRONAT

Hot Wheels and Matchbox in Forza

I love Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, I always have. So, I
have been building a collection of cool die-cast rides for my boy. That way, I
get to buy the cars I like and say they are for him. While shopping, I thought
of Forza and wondered just how many Hot Wheels and Matchbox models are in the
game. Has anyone else ever followed this tangent before? Which cars have you
seen or purchased that are in Forza? I’m buying all I see and going to line my
desk with them. Tell me what you’ve seen in the RVM thread.

Desert 100 – Washington’s Premier Desert Race

While Brian and many others were at Emerald City Comicon in
Seattle, I was out in eastern Washington, with my dirt bike living in the
sagebrush desert and participating in the Ironman Poker Run at the Desert 100.
The Desert 100 is an open-desert motocross race with classes for any type of
rider. The Ironman is a 70-mile course that is non-competitive but grueling
nonetheless. You get a poker card at each of the five checkpoints and the best
hands win trophies. This was my tenth year and my third trophy. It also included
my first crash in six years and I have a nice bruise and limp to show for it.
Do you think the concept of a Poker run could work in a Forza race? I think
it’s a cool idea and would love to see somebody employ it. Think point-to-point. How would you deploy
cards at check points? Discuss, in the RVM thread.